When Erich Mische rode his bike from his St. Paul home to his Wisconsin cabin recently, he was mindful of families who endure far greater challenges than riding 162 miles in a day.

For the executive director of the organization for which he named his adventure the “Old Man Bike Ride for Spare Key” it was an opportunity to champion the nonprofit organization that provides financial support to families during a medical crisis.

His efforts netted $6,000 in donations and piqued my interest.

Mische was a member of Spare Key’s board of directors when in 2012 he was invited to take over as executive director. Interested in a public service position outside of the political arena in which he’d worked for decades, he accepted. Since then, Mische, two paid staff and scores of volunteers have dramatically expanded the reach of a program that got its start at the kitchen table of grieving parents.

Patsy and Robb Keech’s son Derian was born in 1993 with so many health issues he underwent 11 surgeries before he died at age 2 1/2. His illness presented a conflict no parent should have to face. They wanted to be with him every possible minute. Yet they had bills to pay and relied on two incomes to do so.

Friends, family members, co-workers and strangers stepped in and raised funds to help them pay their mortgage. After Derian died his parents resolved to do for others what family and friends had done for them.

In 1997 they formed Spare Key (www.sparekey.org). The non-profit offers a simple, streamlined process that provides temporary financial relief from what is typically a family’s largest expenditure. Virtually all of the referrals come from social workers familiar with the program. Its simplicity makes both referral and access manageable for parents who are short on time and energy but can complete an online application.

To receive up to $1,000 in assistance families must be current on their rent or mortgage payments and have a sick child who is 18 or younger and has spent 14 out of 90 days in the hospital.

Parents need only provide documentation of rent or mortgage obligations. Neither family income nor the child’s medical condition is considered.

Spare Key has helped nearly 2,300 families since 1997. As of June 1, it had made more housing payments in 2014 than in all of 2012. If demand exceeds capacity applications go into a lottery.

“As the executive director of the organization, when we get to the point in the process where we have to determine who we can help the temptation to dig into my pocket is great. That really puts pressure on me and on the board to raise more resources so we are not letting a family with a $275 rent payment go unassisted,” Mische says.

It matters not whether children are dealing with traumatic brain injuries, eating disorders, cancer or mental illness. Professionals say a parent’s presence directly impacts his or her recovery. However, one’s physical presence is not enough; parents must be mentally and emotionally available to actively participate in the child’s care and offer reassurance in a strange and often scary environment.

Parents deal with multiple concerns. They often have other children whose lives do not pause when a sibling becomes ill. Medical expenses frequently skyrocket as their income drops. Nest eggs, if they exist at all, are often slim and quickly depleted. Spare Key offers families the gift of time during a medical crisis, Mische says. As one recipient explained, it allows families to “bounce and not break.”

With no government funding Spare Key draws support from the typical philanthropic sources. Its “ambassadors,” many in the real estate and financial industries, make a donation every time they close a transaction. They host a Groove Gala and a golf event. But individual donors are vital.

Since Spare Key’s inception in 1997, health care delivery has changed dramatically. Today, it has fewer geographic boundaries. “Kids go where they can get their care,” Mische says. “If a family comes to Minnesota from South Dakota, they must still pay for their housing. The same applies to a Minnesota family that goes to Milwaukee for treatment.” So the program now operates in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

New trends breed new challenges. Hospitals strive to discharge children to be cared for at home rather than hospitalize them for days or weeks. Whether parents are caring for children at home or at the hospital does not affect the underlying need for financial relief. Spare Key’s next frontier, Mische says, is to determine how to address the needs of those families, recognizing that once they open that door the demand will increase exponentially.

Riding a bike designed like an elliptical machine for 162 miles would be daunting for most. But Mische offered this perspective. “There are things a lot tougher than riding a bike, like having your child in the hospital 162 days in a row; being a parent who hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep for 162 hours, tossing and turning, wondering how they are going to make their mortgage or rent payment while their child is in the hospital; or having a child who 162 minutes ago finished his last chemo treatment, or who will breathe his last breath in the next 162 seconds.”

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